Door latch



April 29 1924. 1,492,088

H. G. SCHMITZ DOOR LATCH Original Filed Jan. 5. 191? ikmcwecw, M o

"fit Patented Apr. 29, 1924.

HERBERT G. SCHMITZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

T NT

DOOR LATCH.

Application filed January 5, 1917, Serial No. 140,683. Renewed February7, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT G. SCHMITZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in door looks or catches, and isparticularly suitable for use in connection with vehicles,

for instance, automobiles.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive,practical, and eflicient lock or catch construction so organized that 16it may be readily applied to ordinary doors, may be easily manipulated,both in opening and in closing the door, a construction such that theeffects of wear will not impair its efliciency or cause rattle or shake,either of the catch or ofthe door itself, and, in general, to provide animproved door catch or look of the character referred to.

In the drawings, which illustrate one application of my invention asapplied to the door and body of an automobile,-

Fig. 1 is a broken-out elevation of a portion of the-automobile body andthe door, locking from the interior of the car;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing the catchretracted,

Fig. 3 is a section looking along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

F ig. 4 is a broken-out elevation of a modified form of lock or catch,showing the parts in locked position; I

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the parts in disengagedposition;

I and Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of Fig. 4. I

In the drawings, 10 represents the body or casing part of an automobile,and 11 is the usual door mounted to swing upon the hinges 12 and 13. Inthe casing 10 of the body I provide an L-shaped slot or aperture 14 ofsutficient lateral width to slidably accommodate a bolt or look bar 15mounted in the door 11.

The lock bar 15 slides in a long aperture or slot 16 formed in the door11, the open end of said aperture 16 registering with the openv end ofthe slot 14 when the door is closed. In the inner end of the opening 16I insert a compression coil spring 17 which 55 engages a washer or plate18 at the end of the lock bar 15, and this tends to force the lock bar15 outwardly and into the L'-shaped slot 14. In the door and beneath theaperture 16 is a pair ofaxially vertical cylindrical bores into whichare fitted a pair of cylindrical open-ended thimbles 19 containingplungers 20 and coil compression springs 21, the plungers 20 each havinga reduced stem 22 guided by and passing through the bottom closed end ofeach of the thimbles 19.

Above the lock bar 15 and in the door there is'formed an aperture oropening 23 containing an operating lever 24 pivoted upon a horizontalshaft or pin 25 secured in the door. Upon the lower end of said lever 24I mount a pivoted roller 26 which is arranged to engage and depressthe'lock bar;

15, overcoming the springs 21 whenever the lever 24 is oscillated.

When the lever 24 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the spring 17 isfree to push theslide bar 15 into the aperture 14 in the door casing,and the springs 19 at the same time force the lock bar upwardly so thatthe up wardly projecting end27 of-the lock bar engages'in the upperpocket 28 of the L- shaped slot 14, thereby locking the door and at thesame time preventing the lock bar and door from moving or rattling. Whenin locked position, the projection 29 on the in nor end of the lock bar15 engages in the notch- 30 and effectually prevents any rattling orother movement of the lock bar.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the upper end of the operatinglever 24 has an inward crank or ofl'set which projectsthrough the facingplate or escutcheon 31 screwed or otherwise secured to the inner face ofthe door 11, said escutcheon 31 having an arcuate slot 32 to permitoscillatory movements of the lever 24. The inner end of the offsetportion is furnished with a ball 33, or other suitable finger piece, foroperating lever24, and between the escutcheon 31 and 'thesaid ball piece33 the crank has with a small notch or opening 35 in the escut'cheon 31when the operating lever 24 is in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3,i. e., in unlocked position;

To unlock the door,.the lever 24 is moved from the position shown inFig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. 'During the first portion ofsaid movement, the roller 26 will engage and depress the lock bar 15,there a small tit or projection 34 which registers by withdrawing theprojection 27 from the pocket 28, after which the roller 26 will engagean upstanding lug or projection 36. on the upper side of the lock bar"which will result in the latter beingmoved rearwardly against theinfluence of thespring 17 When the lever 24 has been moved into theposition shown in Fig. 2, the lockybar has been withdrawn Completelyfrom the L-shaped'slot'14 in the casing and occupies the position shownin Fig. 2, in which position the door can be readily swung open; on itshinges. Also, when the lever is in such unlocked position, the tit 34enfor the reason that whenthe door is slammed shut, the tit orpro-jection'34 is, bythe inertia of the moving parts, shaken or movedout of engagement with the locking notcl'i 35 in the escutcheon, thespring 17 thereupon 'moves the locking bar l5 outwardly into position,and the springs '2 l 'force it upwardly into locked positlon'.

In Figs. 4a1'1d 5 I-have illustrated another application ofiny inventionwhich in some respects is superior to the one previously described. In"this modification, I employ a diamond-shaped catch or looking dog37which is pivotally mounted in the upper pocket 38 of the casing slotupon "a transverse pin 39. With this construction, the

onset 40 at the end of the locking baris" undercut, as shown at 41,in'order to prop; erly cooperate with 'the diamond-shaped dog 37. Itwill be understood that in'order to permit the depression of thelock barby means of the lever 24, it will be necessary to scoop out or scallopthe inner face of the diamond-shaped dog,'as shown at 42; Thearrangement and dimensions of the parts just described are such thatwhen the' lock bar 15 is inlocked position, thelower"point 43 of thediamond-shaped dog 37 engages in the corner 44 at the end 'of' the 'lockbar 15. In suchposition also the oblique lug 29' on the upper side ofthe lock bar 15 engages in the oblique notch 30 and in conjunction withthe said springs andthe diamond-shaped dog 37, efie'ctually locks theparts in fixed position, even though the door has been in use for a longtime and the various rubbing surfaces havebeen'subjected to considerablewear.

Fig. 5 shows the position of the parts opening of the door.

in the modified arrangement when the locking bar 15 has been withdrawnprior to the Referring to said figure, it will be seen that thediamondshaped dog 37 hasbeen rotated by' the point of the look bar andoccupies the position shown, witli'its point 43 resting against theloweredge of the pocket 38. It is understood that the dog 37 is maintained bygravity in said position, its upper end being considerably heavier thanthe point 43, so that when the locking bar 15 is withdrawn, there willbe no tendency for the dog 37 to swing into locked position and soprevent the insertion of the locking bar.

It will be understood that the details of construction are capable ofconsiderable modification without sacrifice of eificiency; hence, thescope of my "invention 'must be determined by referring to the appendedclaims.

I claim 7 r I 1. The combination of a door casingand door provided withan L-shaped aperture and a longitudinally movable bolt'having anL-shaped end adaptedto enter said aper ture and interlock'therewith uponthe trans;

verse move'mentof said bolt subsequent to its entering said aperture forfastening the door in closed position in the casing, spring means forautomatically pressing saidlbolt longitudinally into said. aperture {andtrans"- versely moving said "bolt whereby inter locking engagement ofsaid L-shaped part with "said t shaped aperture is effeeted,a manuallyoperablelever'mounted adjacent said bolt for eifecting transverse and,longi tudinal movements said bolt, "and" a pivoted dog mounted: on saidcasing and] (go-operating with the end ofsaid bolt.

2. The c'oinbinatiojnfwith a door and its casing, of a boltlongitudinally "movable to fasten the door in closed position in'the,casing, a spring for pressing the bolt longi tudin'all'y, resilientmeans for pressing the bolt transversely to hold it "in lo'ckedpo'si}tion, and a manually operating lever extending laterallyfrom' the boltin the direc tion of its transverse movement and operable to first"press the fboltftran'sversely against said resilient means and thenmove 3 it longitudinally against thespring. 3.'Th e "combination with adoor and its casing, each having latching notches, of a longitudinallymovable bolt having projec-v tions' to; engage the notches by a lateralmovement of the bolt, a spring for pressing the bolt longitudinally,resilient means. for pressing the bolt transversely to hold'it in thelocking notches, anda manually-operated lever for first pressing thebolt: laterally to disengage the projections thereof from the notchesgand then moving it longi tudinally against the spring."

V 4.' The combination witha door and its casing, of a bolt movablelongitudinally to interlock the door and easing, separate means forpressing the bolt longitudinally and transversely to hold it in lookingposition, a slotted guide-plate having a notch at one end and a manuallyoperating lever for engaging the bolt to move it first transversely andthen longitudinally in the unlocking direction, and having a projectionengageable in the notch in the guide-plate for holding the bolt in theunlocked position.

5. A door latch comprising a longitudinally and transversely movablebolt, resilient means for pressing it into locking position, a fixedpivoting pin, a guide-plate with a notch at one end and an operatinglever mounted on the pivoting pin for controlling the movement of thebolt in both directions and having one end which extends through theguide-plate with a projection for engaging the notch thereof, the leverbeing axially movable on the pivoting pin to disengage the projectionthereof from the notch of the locking plate.

6. The combination With a door and its casing of a bolt movable tofasten the door in the closed position in the casing, a spring formoving the bolt longitudinally to the fastening position, an operatinglever for retracting the bolt against the tension of the spring, saidoperating lever being provided with a latch for holding the lever inposition to maintain the bolt in the retracted position, said latchbeing automatically released by closing the door and manually releasedby manipulating the lever.

7. The combination with a door and its casing of a longitudinallymovablebolt, a socket adapted to receive the end of the bolt for fastening thedoor in the closed position in the casing, means to impart a lateralmovement to the end of the bolt when in serted in the socketand apivoted member operated by the lateral movement of the end of the boltto apply pressure to said end of the bolt to hold the bolt at a tensionin the fastening position.

HERBERT e. SCHMITZ.

